Have child and have not slowed down! This blog seeks to chronicle the joys and challenges of taking kids hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing, biking, paddling and all-out exploring in the Canadian Rockies.

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Friday, January 22, 2016

Our Winter with Ducksday - The BEST Children's Ski Suit on the Market

Can you tell from the title that we're in love with our Ducksday ski suit that my son wears? We can't get more than 500 metres on a ski trail before somebody stops us to ask where we got my son's ski suit. Meanwhile, adults stop us to lament that they don't make such an incredible product in their size. (Alas, it's true. I wish I had one.) Frequent comments I hear when we meet people on the trail range from "Oh, wow, you look so warm!" to "What a great ski suit! I wish I could get one in my size!"

This is how you keep a child warm in Canada

What we LOVE about the Ducksday Ski Suit

1. It's easy to put on. I watched a friend fight with her child for a good 20 minutes (or more) because the girl didn't want to put on her ski pants and jacket. And fair enough. Kids hate having to put on dozens of layers. The one-piece ski suit on the other hand is easy peasy to put on and it's so warm, my son could go outside in it with nothing else on other than a set of long underwear.

Cross country skiing with our Ducksday Ski Suit

2. WARMTH. My son has been outside skiing and playing in temperatures down to -30 C this winter, and he's never cold. Everybody else is (me included) but not him. What he wears:

A Buff and a wool tuque (and he's loving his brand new Buff that he just got for Christmas)

Trust me, with the combination above, there is no way this kid can get cold as long as he's in his winter boots. Skiing and skating gets trickier because obviously the boots or skates aren't as warm so we do have to be careful when it gets below -15C. If we were to go hiking however, I wouldn't worry in the slightest about being outside in -30 temps for a couple of hours.

The ski suit of choice when it's -20C and you want to go skating

3. The snow stays where it belongs - away from the child's skin. I don't know about your children, but it's game over if my son gets snow down his back. Truly, end of a good adventure when this happens. Fortunately with a one-piece ski suit, snow stays on the ground. There's no jacket-pant gap. We really appreciate the lack of gap around the belly and back area when cross country skiing because my son falls a lot! We have much better success rates when he is in his Ducksday suit rather than in ski pants and a separate jacket.

There's no jacket-pant gap when you wear a one-piece ski suit

4. We love these additional features of the Ducksday ski suit:

Fleece lined upper body area and hood (hood is detachable)

The zipper goes all the way from the child's waist up to the neck for easy entry/exit

Extra fabric covers and seals the entire zipper with Velcro closures

The ski suit zips up over the child's neck and chin, closing with Velcro to keep snow and cold air out

The nylon shell keeps the child dry so they can play in the snow for hours without getting wet

Reflectors for visibility when out at night

Inside pocket for a snack, bus pass, inhaler, or other important items you don't want your child to lose

Wrist liners to keep snow out with finger loops to help keep hands warm when not wearing mittens (my son LOVES the finger loops on the inside liner)

Velcro at the wrists and legs so that you can adjust width (useful for fitting the legs over downhill ski boots) with zippers along the sides of the legs as well

The ski suit is wind proof, waterproof, and breathable

Fun bright colours (I don't like losing my child in a crowd so this is important for me)

Ice, Snow, Wind... - No problem with Ducksday

Sizing for Ducksday Ski Suits

Ski suits come in the following sizes:

92-98 cm (2-3 years)

98-104 cm (3-4 years)

104-110 cm (4-5 years)

116-122 cm (6-8 years)

And New this year for bigger kids, you can now order three more sizes to keep the whole family warm and dry. Big kid sizing comes in the following ranges:

128-134cm

134-140cm

140-146cm

My 7 year old wears the 116-122 cm size suit with plenty of room to grow

To Order your own Ducksday Ski Suit

To purchase Ducksday products please visit the Ollie and Stella Outfitters Website - a great store which distributes Ducksday products and ships them across Canada and the US.

Enjoying winter with Ducksday Outerwear

Other Ducksday Products that we LOVE

We also love the Ducksday rain suit. My son wore the same funky red colour rain suit for two years before moving into a ski suit. And we actually wore the rain suit all winter long last year. It was a warm winter and we didn't feel the need to wear ski pants most of the winter.

The rain suit keeps kids dry and warm. It's also loose enough that you can layer underneath it with a light puffy jacket and use it for cross country skiing or winter hiking.

THIS is a rain suit! Good for 4 season wear. (he was toasty warm and dry underneath)

I would highly recommend either the rain suit or the ski suit for all children (or ideally, one of both.)

Special thanks to Ollie and Stella Outfitters for providing us both the rain suit and the ski suit. I originally won the rain suit in a contest and became an immediate fan and supporter of this great company. I was thrilled when the company sent us a ski suit to review as well. My son has been toasty warm for 3 years now and I foresee us wearing Ducksday products for years to come.

Our Ducksday Rain Suit has been a favourite for warm winter days

Disclaimer: The ski suit was given to us for review but ALL words are my own and I wasn't paid for this review. I am in LOVE with Ducksday products and my son thrives wearing their gear in our Canadian winters.

5 comments:

myself and my daughter both wear glasses so for us we could not bundle up like that because your glasses will fog up and then you can't see where you are walking...I really really REALLY wish they'd address this problem lol

Our winters here in the okanagan I believe are pretty mild (just moved here from alaska) with 2 under 2 I don't anticipate us going deep into the mountains more than a few times this winter. I have ordered the ducksday fleece and rain suits...do you think this will be warm enough for snow? We do get out daily. Wondering if I should also order a snowsuit for my oldest...

I'd imagine you'll be fine. :) As you say, it doesn't get that cold in the Okanagan. If you decide you want to go downhill skiing or something, you can always get a cheap pair of ski pants for that outing. Otherwise, pairing the fleece suit and rain suit will work super well.

I have been searching for a one piece in the next size up for our 3 year old who needs a size. Wondering if you need all of those layers to stay warm as he battles with us to wear more than an undershirt and shirt and fleece pants most days. Most of the one piece suits in larger sizes we were warned are more of a shoulder season suit. Is this one thicker than most then and warmer?

The Ducksday snow suit is extremely warm. (not the rain suit, which you'd have to layer with, but the real snow suit.) It is fleece lined and a kid could easily wear it with nothing under it but a regular shirt and fleece pants. It's the warmest one piece suit I've ever seen.